Kerala: Antony's star trek

Defence Minister A.K. Antony's honest image has earned him the sobriquet of Saint Antony, but no one calls him an action hero. That title may yet come to the family, as his son Ajith Paul Antony prepares to act in the multilingual movie, Oberoi. A suspense thriller, it will be shot in Malayalam,

Defence Minister A.K. Antony's honest image has earned him the sobriquet of Saint Antony, but no one calls him an action hero. That title may yet come to the family, as his son Ajith Paul Antony prepares to act in the multilingual movie, Oberoi. A suspense thriller, it will be shot in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.

Ajith

The minister was initially unhappy about his son's career choice, but later gave in to Ajith's persuasion. The junior Antony is a graduate in history and political science from Delhi's St. Stephen's College. "Ajith approached me through Facebook and told me that he had a movie plot to discuss. Since he is son of a top-rung politician, I was also curious to meet him," says Aji John, the director of the film.

Ajith, who has written the story for the movie, later met John and also expressed his intention to act in the movie. "We never gave him a casting test. I was charmed by the way he carried himself in the first meeting," says John, whose first Malayalam movie Nallavan was a box-office failure but created a small but passionate fan-base, including the defence minister's son.

Ajith has been working for almost two years on the script of Oberoi, which tells story of a young man forced to join his family business and his struggles in life. The movie will be shot in Kerala, Delhi, Spain and Singapore. "Apart from three or four central characters, we will be casting actors locally wherever we travel. We are in the process of zeroing in on actors from Spain. This will be a unique experience," says John.

Malayalam filmdom, known for its low-budget films, is abuzz with rumours of Oberoi's Rs 15-crore budget. "These is just speculation. The budget is much lower, though it is a racy movie with gunfights and car races," says John. Ajith, who was known to be a shy, young man when he joined college has built a huge circle of friends with his charm and humour. Now is his turn to charm movie audiences and, perhaps, his father.

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